abyss

See also: Abyss.

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English abissus, from Late Latin abyssus (“a bottomless gulf”), from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos, “bottomless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + βυσσός (bussós, “deep place”),[1][2] from βυθός (buthós, “deep place”).[3] Displaced native Old English neowolnes.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈbɪs/
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈbɪs/, /æˈbɪs/, enPR: ə-bĭs'
  • Rhymes: -ɪs
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: a‧byss

Noun

abyss (plural abysses)

  1. Hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][1]
  2. (frequently figurative) A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable; any void space. [First attested in the late 16th century.][1]
    • 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 752:
      Below is the deep abyss of the Lauterbrunnen valley, and at its head a stately semi-circle of mountains, with the pyramidal Lauterbrunnen Breithorn as the centre-piece.
  3. Anything infinite, immeasurable, or profound. [First attested in the late 16th century.][1]
  4. Moral depravity; vast intellectual or moral depth.
    They fell into the abyss of drug addiction.
  5. (with article) An impending catastrophic happening.
  6. (heraldry) The center of an escutcheon; fess point.
  7. (oceanography) The abyssal zone.
  8. (figurative) A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.
    Synonym: gulf

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abyss”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11.
  2. ^ William Morris, editor (1969 (1971 printing)), “abyss”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 6.
  3. ^ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 9

Anagrams

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